Christian McCaffrey scored three times for Valor Christian on Saturday night in the Beehive Classic in Jordan, Utah, but it wasn’t enough for the top-ranked Eagles, who lost 21-20 to the Bingham Miners in overtime.

Valor Christian drops to 0-2 this season.

Bingham tied the game late in the fourth quarter and playing collegiate football overtime rules got possession first in overtime from the 25-yard line. Tonga Manu, on the second play, went 20-yards for the Miners. The extra point was good.

Carlton Hurst, the Aurora Central shooting guard who averaged 23 points and ten rebounds per game last season, has narrowed his college choice to three schools.

Hurst, a three-star prospect according to Rivals.com, will visit Colorado State (Sept. 7), Saint Mary’s (Sept. 14) and Wyoming (Sept. 14), according to David Matthews, his club coach with Colorado Chaos. The senior visited all three schools unofficially in May and June. He also made unofficial trips to Nebraska and San Francisco.

Matthews said he expects Hurst to make a decision “sometime in late September” after he takes all three visits. Read more…

Horizon advanced to the quarterfinals of the NFL’s national 7-on-7 event in Indianapolis last Friday and Saturday before bowing out. The Hawks were an impressive 5-2 in pool play over the two-day event to earn a berth in the elimination tournament.

Horizon won the Broncos’ 7-on-7 event last month to qualify for the national tournament — one of four actual high school teams to qualify. (The remainder of the qualifying teams were, in effect, all-star teams from their respective areas, according to Broncos media relations.)

The national event featured 32 entrants from each NFL city. As such, each participating team was branded with NFL gear — Horizon representing in Broncos’ jerseys, shorts and sweatshirts. Read more…

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Valor Christian and Mullen will have their Zero Week game shown by ESPN.

It was the matchup everyone wanted to see during the 2010 and 2011 football seasons. Well, it’s coming in Zero Week 2012: Valor Christian vs. Mullen. And, now, it’ll be broadcast by ESPN’s online and mobile affiliates.

The story lines are sure there. Valor Christian, a three-time defending champion, including the past two Class 4A titles, will be playing its first game as a 5A program. The Eagles have won 24 games in a row, and are emerging as the new standard when it comes to Colorado high school football.

We can put those Mark Nolan-to-Mullen rumors to rest. Nolan won’t be leaving his position as Regis Jesuit’s football coach, according to the school’s administration.

The Mullen job, vacated when Dave Logan was fired, has been linked to Nolan for a few weeks now. It made sense, too: Mullen principal Jim Gmelich had hired Nolan at Regis (during his three-year stint as principal there), and the two also have ties from their days at Phoenix’s Brophy Prep.

Luke Del Rio, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound transfer quarterback from Florida, will attend either Cherry Creek or Valor Christian, according to his dad, Jack, the Broncos’ new defensive coordinator.

Del Rio doesn’t yet have any offers, according to rivals.com, but his profile shows interest from Alabama, Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Southern Miss and USC.

Initially, Del Rio was also considering Regis Jesuit and Grandview. But Jack Del Rio told our Mike Klis in Indianapolis that the decision is now only down to Valor, the private school powerhouse which is making a move up to 5A next season, and Cherry Creek, Dave Logan’s new home.

Mullen may hope the furor over Dave Logan’s firing fades away quickly, but that’s not going to happen — regardless of who the administration hires to replace him.

Case in point: this online petition addressed to Mullen’s board of trustees calling for the firing of Ryan Clement, the school’s president and CEO, and principal Jim Gmelich. It has over 500 signatures.

Dear Mullen High School Board of Trustees,

The lack of sound leadership on the part of Mr. Ryan Clement, President and CEO, and Jim Gmelich, Principal as it relates to the firing of Coach Dave Logan and his staff have hurt our Mullen students, alumni, parents, faculty, and friends. The character and dedication of Coach Logan and his staff are without question. The number of young people they have positively influenced is tremendous. The actions of Mr. Clement and Mr. Gmelich do not uphold our LaSallian values in how our Mullen family is expected to be treated.

We petition the Board of Trustees of Mullen High School to act immediately to remove Ryan Clement and Jim Gmelich from their respective positions, and to move immediately to reinstate Coach Logan and his entire staff.

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.